Crisis is brewing within the Christian community in Nigeria following allegations made by the founder of Word Assembly Ministries, Kwara State, Reverend Isaac Omolehin, claiming that the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) is persecuting him and trying to sabotage his ministry.

In a video which showed where he was preaching, Rev. Omolehin claimed he travelled to Canada on invitation to preach but was turned back after the host church allegedly received instructions from PFN that he should not be allowed to minister. He said the incident cost him $8,000 (N16 million) which he said he spent on flight tickets for himself and his wife, with a promise that he would be reimbursed but that it never materialized.

According to the cleric, a similar situation occurred shortly after in Cape Town, South Africa, where another church allegedly received the same directives from PFN not to allow him to preach. However, he said that the Cape Town pastor resisted the instruction, insisting that he should be allowed to minister to his congregation despite alleged threats of excommunication from PFN. Rev. Omolehin stated that he shared his experiences with a friend, Apostle Arome Osayi, who also told him that he had faced similar persecution.

“I am experiencing persecution from the churches in Nigeria. I spoke to Apostle Arome Osayi about how I went to Canada to preach. I was invited. I didn’t just go on my own, look at me; I’m not a young man. And I was told, “Buy your ticket. When you come and we give you your honorarium, we’ll reimburse your ticket and put everything together.” Now, I got there and then they told me that they had received an instruction from Nigeria that I should not be allowed to preach. So, I was turned back. Now, where is my money? I spent $8,000, that’s N16 million, because I fly business class. My wife also went with me. They didn’t reimburse me.

“A few days later, I went to Cape Town and when I got to Cape Town, I was told that the PFN had left an instruction that I should not be allowed to preach. But the difference between my experience in Canada and my experience in Cape Town was that the man who invited me in Cape Town put his foot down. He said that he has sick people in his church and PFN will not heal them. That he has sinners in his church and PFN will not save them. That he has people who need deliverance in his church and PFN is not going to deliver them. How many dead people has PFN raised? This man of God must be allowed to preach and minister to his people. So, he put his foot down and insisted that I should preach.

“He said that if they were going to excommunicate him from PFN, he was ready to leave. So, when I told Apostle Osayi what I was going through among the Nigerian churches, that they are following me from nation to nation to waste my money, waste my time, and disgrace me, Apostle Osayi told me that he had suffered the same persecution. So, I felt relief when I met him, knowing that I have a partner in hardship,” Rev. Omolehin said.

However, the PFN has denied the allegations made by Rev. Omolehin. In a statement signed by the body’s National Publicity Secretary, Dr. Sylvanus Ukafia, the PFN stated that it never issued any directive instructing churches in Canada, Cape Town, or anywhere else to prevent Rev. Omolehin or any other minister from preaching and challenged the cleric to provide concrete evidence, including the names of churches, individuals involved, and any written or recorded proof linking PFN to the alleged directives.

“With due respect to Rev. Isaac Omolehin, we believe he may have been misinformed or misled. In the interest of truth and fairness, we invite him to provide: The names of the churches, The individuals involved, and Any written or recorded evidence linking PFN to these alleged directives. The PFN stands ready to investigate any credible information.

“The Bible instructs in Matthew 18:15 that if a brother believes he has been wronged, he should seek direct clarification. At no time did Rev, Isaac approach the leadership of the PFN to confirm or resolve such a serious allegation. A simple inquiry could have dispelled this misinformation. We hold Rev. Isaac Omolehin in high esteem as a fellow labourer in the vineyard of Christ. We pray for continued grace upon his ministry and wish him success in his calling. We urge churches in Nigeria, Canada, Cape Town, and across the world to: Keep their pulpits open to sincere, well-intentioned ministers of the Gospel, promote unity in the Body of Christ, and continue advancing the message of salvation,” the PFN said. (The Sun)